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ON 



CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLTON, 



DZLIVSBED BEFORE It^l! 



Hiatreinus Society 



OF 



Mt. 8t. JUary's Collegre^ 



December 20th, 1832. 



BY 



REV. JOHN McCaffrey, a. m. 

Professor o/Rhetorick. 



ISattimote: 

PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM R. LUCAS. 
LUCAS AND DEAVER, PRINTERS. 

1832. 



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TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. 



The members of tlie Acaclemus of Mount Saint Mary's College from 
the moment they heard of the death of Charles Carroll of Carolton, felt 
the ol'iligation imposed on them, of offering- some public testimonial of 
their deep regret at the afllicting event: but, liaving a public duty toper- 
form on the twenty-second of this month, they thought best to defer 
coming to any resolutions until after that period. As soon, however, as 
it was past, the President called a meeting, in which it was unanimous- 
ly iSesoZue^/, That a committee be appointed to draw up resolutions ex- 
pressive of the sorrow, with which they received the news of the death 
of the last signer of the Declaration of Independence. The committee, 
consisting of Messrs. John L. Taylor, Thomas Pegues, Edward Paca, 
and Eugene Lynch, presented the following report : 

The dispenser of all goodness, in his wisdom has thought fit to call to 
himself the last of that patriotic band, who with matchless fortitude and 
untiring perseverance, succeeded in establishing upon solid foundations, 
the fair fabric of our Independence. Charles Carroll of Carrolton is no 
more ; his bright career is ended ; but his disinterested patriotism, and 
undeviating course of rectitude and usefulness ; his profuse charity, his 
rare public and private virtues, have shed a glory around his memory, 
which the lapse of ages cannot disj>cl. In the fulness of his joy, he has 
lingered among us as some guardian spirit, to watch over and preserve 
that liberty which he so strenuously assisted in acquiring. He lived to 
see his country in the full tide of prosperity, steadily rising to higher, 
and yet higher destinies : and like Simeon of old, he prayed for death, 
since all was fulfilled, that his patriotic soul could have wished for, even 
in his most enthusiastic moments. Deeply impressed with such rare 
merits, and keenly alive to the loss our country has sustained, we beg 
leave to offer you the following resolutions : 

1st. Resolved, That the members of the Academus are affected with 
the liveliest sorrow, for the death of this truly virtuous and patriotic 
citizen. 

2d. Resolved, That as a feeble tribute due to his worth, each membei" 
of this society wear crape on his left arm for the space of thirty days. 

Sd. Resolved, That one of the members be appointed to-{)ronounce an 
elogium on the character of this great and good man. 

4th. Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings l)e forwarded to 
Messrs. Charles and Robert (L Harjjer, grand-sons of the deceased, as a 
mark of our sincere condolence with the afllicted family, and of our re- 
gard for former students' of this College. ' 



^^ 



The committee having waited on the Rev. John McCaffrey, and re- 
quested him to deiiver the elogium, and he having consented to do so, 
have appointed the 20th of December next, for that purpose. 

John L. Taylor, 
Thomas E. B. Pegues, 
Edward Paca, 
Eugene H. Lykch. 
PuJblished by order of the Society, } 
November 27th, 1832. ^ 



Mt. St. Mary's College, Dec. 21 s«, 1832. 

Dear Sir, 

The Academus of Mt. St. INIary's College, fully sensible of the honor 
reflected upon it by your able and eloquent eulogiuni on the illustrious 
Carroll, tenders to you througli us its grateful acknowledgments, and 
respectfully solicits a copy lor publication. 
With every sentiment of esteem and regard, 
We remain yours, 

Nicholas H. Maguire,\ 

John Mathias, > Committee. 

John D. West. ^ 

To Rev. John McCaffrey. 



Mt. St. Mary's College, Dec. 21sf, 1832. 
Gentlemen, 

Having pronounced, at the request of the Academus, the eulogium ot 
Charles Carroll of Carrolton, I do not feel myself at liberty to decline a 
compliance with the wishes of that learned Society respecting its publi- 
cation. It may be, that some of the topics introduced or alluded to, 
have only a local interest, and the entire discourse, prepared amid the 
many distractions of my daily occupations, is undoubtedly very far from 
doing justice to its noble theme. A copy is herewith presented to you, 
subject to whatever disposal your respectable association may choose to 
make it. 

Accept, gentlemen, for yourselves individually, and for the Academus 
at large, my assurances of unfeigned esteem and consideration. 

John McCaffrey. 

To 

Nicholas H. Maguire, ^ 

John Mathias, > Committee. 

John D. West. ■ ) 



ORATIOIV. 



Gentlemen of the Academus, 

It would perhaps have been more prudent, 
to have sought in the pressure of professional 
duties, a reason for declining the honour, 
which your partiality has assigned to me, than 
to plead it as an apology for the very imper- 
fect manner, in which I must fulfill your in- 
tentions. Sensible as I am of the peculiar in- 
terest of this scene, and much as I could wish 
that my subject were in the hands of some one 
more capable and more conversant with the 
great political questions interwoven with it; 
still I cannot view it otherwise than as a hap- 
piness to have to address such an audience on 
such a theme. I am sure, gentlemen, that 1 
have not mistaken the object of your invitation 
to me to appear before you on this occasion. 
Repeat to us, — it is thus I have interpreted 
your request, — repeat to us the story of the 
merits and virtues of the illustrious Carroll of 
Carrolton. FamiUar as it may be to our 
minds, we will listen with delight to the les- 
sons of exalted patriotism, and pure morality, 



2 

with which it is pregnant: we will treasure? 
them up in our hearts, and now in the days 
of our youth, fix our ardent gaze on the bright 
example of his career, that in our maturer 
years, it may guide our steps in the path of 
usefulness, rectitude and honour. It is with 
these views of the task you have committed 
to me that I approach my subject. I recog- 
nize the moral beauty of the sentiment which 
has dictated the tribute of this day, and such 
is my conviction of the important instructions 
it might be made to convey, that I entreat 
you to listen not only with patriotic, but even 
with religious feelings; and I would humbly 
implore the Almighty disposer of events, and 
ruler of the destinies of nations, to j^ermit the 
spirits of Carroll and of the great and good 
men, who like him have been the fathers of 
their country, aad the authors under heaven, 
of the political blessings we now enjoy, to 
auspicate this scene by their presence or 
influence, and hallow our feelings that they 
may be consonant with the solemnity of the 
occasion. 

It has pleased a gracious Providence, whose 
wisdom is infinite, that of all those who sign- 
ed their names to the declaration of our na- 
tional independence, Charles Carroll should 
have lingered the latest among us. The fif- 
tieth anniversary of the day on which it was 



3 

solemnly promulgated to the world, "that 
these United States are, and of right ought 
to be free and independent," dawned upon 
our rejoicing land, and found three members 
of that patriot body still surviving ; when, 
by a wonderful coincidence, the author of 
that imperishable document, and one of its 
ablest supporters on the floor of Congress, 
retired together from the scene of their earth- 
ly labours. We wept not at their departure; 
for like ripe and mellow fruit, they had fallen 
in du€ season to the ground, and the consum- 
mation of their lives could not, in any human 
point of view, have been more opportune or 
glorious. But the affections of all were thus 
concentrated on the solitary surviver. Dur- 
ing the six years which have since interven- 
ed, he has stood among us, the only relic of 
that heroic band who pledged their lives, 
fortunes, and sacred honours, in the cause of 
our freedom and redeemed their pledge. The 
worthy representative of them all, he exhibit- 
ed to us the embodied spirit of a revolution, 
which originated in the assertion of clear and 
definite rights, and which shines without a 
rival in the annals of the world — unmixed 
with views of ambition, not disfigured by 
excess, not sullied by crime, not defeated by 
artifice or treachery, crowned with complete 
success, and consummated in peace, union and 



4 

prosperity. Oarroll remained alone : yet fan- 
cy loved to gather around him the deathless 
spirits of his illustrious compeers ; and he 
that looked upon the venerable patriarch, 
could easily people the scene on which he 
moved with the Washingtons and Hancocks 
of that proud era, or call up the image of 
Stone, Chase, and Paca, advancing together 
with him to record the vote of Maryland on 
the scroll of independence and glory. Alas! 
that those bright visions have passed away 
forever! But no! the members of that Con- 
gress, the most august political assembly the 
world has ever seen, still live in the good 
they have done and the consequences which 
flow from their actions : they live in the 
grateful recollection of America, in the ad- 
miration of mankind. Yet the last of these ; 
the hoary sage, who so recently could "read 
his history in a nation's eyes," was, at the out- 
set of his career an alien on his native soil. 
Let us follow him in his progress through 
those instructive scenes, by his part in which 
he became identified with the glory, and con- 
tributed to the happiness of our country. 

The grand father of Charles Carroll of Car- 
rolton, migrated to the forests of America in 
order that he might enjoy in the Catholic colo- 
ny of Maryland, the unmolested exercise of 
that religion, which English tyranny has for 



5 

centuries proscribed and attempted, but in 
vain, to crush in his native Ireland- It was 
Maryland, gentlemen, and I am proud as a 
Marylander to mention it, which set the mo- 
dern world the first example of religious tole- 
ration. But when Cromwell, and afterwards 
the Prince of Orange, grasped the sceptre of 
Great Britain and her dependencies, the evil 
genius of persecution, which had before driven 
the Puritans to the rock of Plymouth, the Qua- 
kers to Pennsylvania, and Lord Baltimore with 
his followers to the shores of the Chesapeake, 
reared even here its banner, stained with blood 
and blackened with ingratitude; and the men, 
who, when they had the power in their own 
hands, gave a refuge to the persecuted of 
every sect, were now disfranchised and de- 
prived of the free enjoyment of that religion, 
whose pure spirit, the spirit of universal char- 
ity, they had so generously displayed to others. 
Thus, Charles Carroll, at the very time that 
he was sent by the people in their sovereign 
capacity to vote for independence, could not, 
by law, have held a seat in any one of the 
Colonial legislatures. But this is only one of 
the striking differences between the aspect of 
our country, as it was before the revolution, 
and as it now is, — differences so startling, 
that at times the enthusiastic observer might 
be tempted to fancy himself in some region of 



6 

romance, where changes and improvements 
pass before his view w^ith the rapidity of en- 
chantment. The very ground on which we 
now stand, surrounded by such ample means 
of Uterary and scientific pursuit, and all west- 
ward; in a word, the whole of this vast, popu- 
lous and flourishing empire, with the excep- 
tion of a narrow stripe of sea coast and some 
few spots, almost imperceptible, was then 
occupied by untutored savages, or the wild 
beasts, which they chased — and perfectly un- 
trodden by the foot of civilization. Can we 
think of this astonishing change without re- 
solving to cherish and support the institutions 
under which they have been wrought, and 
without glowing hearts for our public bene- 
factors, the men who laid their strong founda- 
tions, and those, who, collecting the scattered 
elements of political wisdom, built up the 
stately edifice under which we repose in se- 
curity and honor ? 

Born at Annapolis in 1737, while North 
America presented the picture, at which we 
have just glanced, the subject of our remarks, 
was sent at the early age of eight years to 
receive in Europe, such an education as the 
wealth and respectability of his family seem- 
ed to require, and the enlightened and liberal 
minds of his parents judged of paramount im- 
portance. From the College at St. Omers he 



7 
was soon transferred to Rheirns, and thence to 
that of Lous le Grand, at Paris ; and tlius fin- 
ished his humanities in the same institution, 
which subsequently became the Alma Mater 
of the venerable founder of our own Mount 
St. Mary's — his friend in after life, to whose 
direction here, and at St. Joseph's, he saw 
with so much pleasure, the early education of 
six of his grand children confided. It would, 
no doubt, be interesting to us, to trace the 
future patriot and sage through his course of 
collegiate studies, and notice the gradual un- 
folding of the early germs of virtue, and of 
those powers of mind and qualities of heart, 
which in the hour of oppression and danger, 
were all to be thrown into the scale of his 
country. But neither time nor the materials 
for so doing, are at my command. What we 
do know is, that the discipline of the learned 
institution, in which he was then matriculated, 
has been the model of that, in the bosom of 
which, we are now paying honor to his mem- 
ory. Firm, yet mild and paternal; strict and 
inflexible on every point relating to morality, 
and the respect essentially due to religion; 
preserving youth from vice, by repelling afar 
its chief incentives and occasions; cherishing 
at that vernal season of life, the blossoms and 
buds of innocence; so that neither summer 
heats nor autumnal blasts may destroy the 



8 
fruits of virtue — It must have had a happy 
influence, and to it we may fairly ascribe 
much of what was peculiarly estimable, and 
most truly great in his character. Nor did 
he waste in idleness or frivolous pursuits his 
golden opportunities for storing his mind with 
rich and varied knowledge. He did not mere- 
ly skim over the surface of the classics, but 
came away thoroughly imbued with their 
spirit, fraught with their important lessons, 
and covered with the spoils of successful in- 
vasion into the very heart of their dominions. 
If that time honored system of education 
which has given the world its brightest orna- 
ments, could be destined ever to fall into com- 
plete discredit, it would not be owing to such 
examples of its influence as the one now 
before us; but to the silly pretensions or quer- 
ulous disappointment of sciolists ; the mere 
swallows of learning ; who have never mas- 
tered perfectly the difficulties of the grammar 
school. The vulgar prejudice against book 
taught men would have applied with sweep- 
ing force to the fathers of our independence. 
It would have proscribed the authors of those 
immortal state papers which won the splen- 
did eulogy of Chatham, enlisted in their cause 
the sympathies of Europe, and extorted the 
admiration even of their enemies. Yes, ex- 
cept a very few, most of whom are known to 





have regretted the disadvantage, they had 
caught the lessons of political wisdom from 
the historians, philosophers and statesmen of 
Greece and Rome. The pleasing instruction 
of Xenophon, and the masterly narrative of 
Thucidydes; Livy's eloquent and pictured 
page, and the rapid and bold sketches of the 
philosophic Tacitus, had taught them to take 
both comprehensive and practical views of 
government. Yes, Carroll had enjoyed those 
visions, which it is given only to the diligent 
student of classical antiquity so to realize that 
the great patriot of former days shall rise up 
animated, living before them — a Demosthenes 
hurling his thunderbolts at each usurpation 
of the Macedonian king, or an indignant Cice- 
ro standing alone on the ruins of a fallen re- 
public, formidable to tyrants in the middle of 
their armies. 

His attention was next directed to law — 
that noble profession, which, when studied 
and exercised in its proper spirit, is so well 
adapted to enlarge the soul, invigorate and 
sharpen the faculties of the mind, and often 
to give the fullest play to the benevolent feel- 
ings of the heart. We accordingly find him 
in his twentieth year in London, engaged 
with ardour in this pursuit, which with few 
intermissions he continued until 1764, when 
he returned, to his native province in the 27th 
2 



year of his age. Thus was the heir to b 
princely fortune, which seemed to exempt 
him from the necessity of any exertion even 
in the most Hberal profession, kept by the 
wise counsels of his parents and of his own 
clear-sighted mind, in continual application 
to laborious studies, long after he had passed 
his majority. Thus was he prepared not 
merely to espouse the ju&t cause of his coun- 
try, when it was attacked with a power whicli 
seemed irresistible ; but to come forward as a? 
leader in the defence, and give an impulse to 
the minds and energies of others. 

He found the whole thirteen colonies in a 
ferment. They had been established under 
charters from the king, and always held them- 
selves subject to the crown, saving their liber- 
ties as Englishmen and freemen. In severat 
of these charters the exclusive right of tax- 
ing themselves in their own general assem- 
blies was expressly recognized: its exercise 
in all the provinces had been constant and 
undisputed. While the British parliament 
confined itself to the regulation of their ex- 
ternal trade, they submitted to its decisionSy 
considering it as the instrument of the king 
to whom they owed allegiance: but when it 
set up the novel claim of omnipotence to bind 
the colonies, in all cases v/hatsoever, they re- 
fused to admit a proposition destructive of their 



11 

chartered riglits, and implying absolute sub- 
jection on their part, to the decrees of a body 
in which they were not represented. Nor 
was this discovery of parliamentary omnip* 
otence much commended by the considera- 
tion, that its first exercise would be to re- 
plenish the exhausted treasury of England at 
their expense. The attempt to use it was 
however made; and the stamp act was pass- 
ed, resisted, and repealed. Then came the 
act laying duties on teas and various other 
articles, which the colonists opposed, as they 
had done in the previous case, by an appeal 
to the selfish feelings of their step-mother — 
the non-importation agreement, until all the 
imposts were withdrawn except a nominal 
one on tea, retained by the government with 
a stubborn determination to enforce the con- 
tested principle. Thus were our fore-fathers 
dragged against their will into that contest, 
from which they came forth covered with 
victory, glory, and independence. I trust 
that I am not tiring you by this imperfect 
endeavor to refresh your recollections of the 
origin and principle of that great struggle. 
At these you must look, if you wish to form 
a correct estimate of the men of that day, 
and discern the true foundations on which 
the splendid fabric of tlieir fame is reared. 
There should be no misconceptions, no vague 



1« 

and loose notions on this head. The name of 
revolutionists is not the pillar of their glory. 
Cataline was a revolutionist: Cromwell was a 
revolutionist : Caesar overturned the govern- 
ment of Rome. It was not an undistinguish- 
ing hatred of the sceptre, nor indiscriminate 
opposition to all established authority. If so, 
they must yield the plan to the Murats, and 
Dantons and Robespierres, of revolutionary 
France. No, the foundation of their fame is 
this : their cause was a just one : they never 
stepped beyond the line of right: they de- 
manded nothing, which had not been pre- 
viously recognised as their own: they beat 
their adversaries on the field of argument 
first, and when every hope of justice was 
extinguished, and the blood of their brethren 
shed wantonly in the violation of no law, 
cried to heaven for vengeance ; then and not 
till then, they invoked the God of battles and 
rushed into the field of arms, renouncing alle- 
ance to any other sovereign than to him. 

Can we wonder that Charles Carroll, at his 
return home in the vigor of manhood, was 
drawn into the vortex of this controversy ? It 
is true, that he had no political rights to lose. 
It is true, on the other. hand, that he had at 
stake the wealthiest estate in the Province, 
and belonged to a family, which had been 
high in trust and favor with the local govern- 



13 

merit. But he was too clear sighted, not to 
discover the right ; too hheral, not to be at- 
tracted powerfully towards it; too resolute to 
shrink from its assertion ; too magnanimous 
and patriotic to desert his country at her 
greatest need. In point of fortune, a patri- 
cian, by the operation of prejudice and of the 
law, an alien — he still felt with the people, 
because their principles were his; and feeling 
with them, it was not for him to remain an 
idle spectator of the contest. An occasion 
soon arose for the exertion of his abilities and 
the display of his legal and literary attain 
ments. The legislature of Maryland having 
failed to provide for the compensation of the 
provincial officers, the governor undertook to 
regulate their fees by proclamation. The thing 
was unprecedented : it was in principle anal- 
ogous to the obnoxious stamp act: and yet 
one of the most talented and powerful oppo- 
nents of that impost stood forward in defence 
of the governor's prerogative. Daniel Dula- 
ney, then Secretary of the colony, in a print- 
ed dialogue between two citizens, had mana- 
ged the argument so as to give a decided vic- 
tory to the second, the representative of his 
own opinions. Mr. Carroll entered into the 
arena, assumed the side and signature of the 
First Citizen, and published in several essays 
a reply distinguished by its cogent reasoning, 



14 

-unstained excellence of style, exuberance of 
classical allusion and quotation, and the bold- 
ness with which he flung down his gauntlet in 
the cause of the people. The result was a 
victory. The elections to the General As- 
sembly, which were held during the contro- 
versy, sent a triumphant majority in favor of 
the principles for which he was contending, 
and the thanks of his fellow citizens were 
publicly returned to the First Citizen, through 
the medium of their delegates. This prompt 
devotion of the fruits of his liberal education 
to their service, the independence, firmness, 
and talent he had evinced, extinguished fore- 
ver the prejudices which otherwise might have 
paralyzed his patriotism. Known to the peo- 
ple of Maryland as their friend, surrounded 
with their confidence, and seeing their hopes 
turning towards him, and the few, who like 
him, could embark at once genius, knowledge, 
fortune and character in their cause, he from 
that moment, possessed a moral influence, 
which he ever after used discreetly, but intre- 
pidly, for their benefit and the triumph of 
justice. 

The infatuated ministry of England had 
resolved that the fate of an empire should 
turn upon a trivial duty on tea. The colo- 
nists determined not to pay a tax laid upon it 
by a parliament, in which they were not re- 



15 

presented, baund themselves neither to import 
nor use it, and generally took care that it 
should not even be landed. You know how this 
was effected at Boston : A scene somewhat 
analogous was exhibited at Annapolis. A ves- 
sel arrived there having some portion of the 
obnoxious article on board, and the duties in 
defiance of warning, were paid by a IMr. Stew- 
art, one of the owners. Instantly the towns- 
men assemble ; the alarm is spread ; a meet-^ 
ing af the county is summoned, and the af- 
frighted owners and consignees behold a storm 
excited by their own temerity gathering over 
their heads, the direction and violence of 
which they can neither calculate nor avert. 
They apply to Mr. Carroll for advice and pro- 
tection. He knew that half way measures 
would not do ; an example, morever, was ne- 
cessary to prevent the just will of the people 
from being frustrated. He therefore propos- 
ed the only expedient which, under all the cir- 
cumstances coidd have been effectual — no 
doubt reluctantly, but with his characteristic 
clearness of perception and firmness of deci- 
sion. His advice was followed. The brigan- 
tine was run aground, with her sails set, and 
her colours floating in the air ; the owners and 
consignees went on board to superintend the 
proceeding, and Stewart, for the expiation of 
his offence and the vindication of the people's 



16 

violated rights, in the presence of a vast mul- 
titude, with his own hand set fire to his own 
Vessel, with the devoted tea on hoard. During' 
this eventfid period Mr. Carroll was an active 
and influential member of the Convention of 
Maryland, and along witli Chase, Paca, and 
other tried patriots, charged with its most im" 
portant duties. When that Continental Con- 
gress, to which we owe our independent and 
equal station among the nations of the world, 
was convened at Philadelphia, he attended as 
a most anxious and interested spectator; and 
such was the confidence of that body in his 
talents and integrity, that they associated him, 
although not a member, with Franklin and 
Chase in the important embassy to the peo- 
ple of Canada, and at the same time specially 
requested him to prevail on his distinguished 
relative, the Rev. John Carroll, to accompany 
and second them in the objects of their mis- 
sion. The invitation was accepted and the 
trust was not misplaced. I cannot, gentle- 
men, omit this opportunity of paying a brief 
tribute to the memory of a personage holding 
such just and powerful claims on our grati- 
tude, as a zealous patriot and the first and 
brightest ornament of the Catholic episcopa- 
cy in these United States. No clergymen 
before or since has filled so large a space in 
the public eye. Liberal minded men of every 



IT 

denomination and profession, the soldier, the 
statesman and the philosopher acknowledged 
the varied excellences of his character — his 
talents and virtues, his learning and philan- 
throphy, his patriotism and piety. Honored 
with the respect and confidence of our first 
National Congress, esteemed by all his fellow 
citizens, cherished as the best of friends by 
those who knew him, loved with a filial feel- 
ing by his own flock, and elevated to the high- 
est trust and dignity in the American Church, 
he could not have been more greatly distin- 
guished in all that is deservedly prized on 
earth and rewarded in heaven : And when he 
was called away in a good old age, to receive 
the crown of his labors, the heartfelt regret of 
thousands attested, not only that **a great man 
had fallen in Israel," but that a fond and be- 
neficent father was wept by an immense fami- 
ly of orphans. 

The difficulties and disasters of the Ameri- 
can army, after the fall of the brave Montgo- 
mery, rendered the mission to Canada ineffec- 
tual. Carroll returned; but it was only to 
give new proofs of devotion to that cause, in 
which his whole heart and soul were engaged. 
R^esuming his seat in the Maryland Conven- 
tion, he lent the entire weight of his influence 
and persuasion to prevent her from faJhng in 
the rear of the sister colonies, at the momen- 
3 



18 

tous and decisive crisis approaching. Thr 
issue, which he had long anticipated and fore- 
told, had now arrived. The Rubicon had been 
crossed: the best blood of America was flow- 
ing profusely. Washington led her armies, 
and the notes of deadly conflict came wafted 
on every gale from the north. To profess 
continued allegiance to the power against 
which they were arrayed in mortal strife, 
would have been to acknowledge the guilt of 
rebellion. Reasoning had been tried in vain; 
remonstrance resented as factious and insult-^ 
ing; supplication spurned with contempt — 
The battle of argument had been fought, and. 
the opponents of our cause defeated on this 
side of the Atlantic and on the other. Its 
righteousness had been proved by the splen- 
did eloquence of the profound and prophetic 
Burke, by the denunciations bursting from 
the indignant soul of England's Cassandra, 
the immortal Chatham. There must have 
been satisfactory evidence to have made that 
man, whos€ gigantic genius had raised Great 
Britain to her proudest height of glory, ex- 
claim: "The Americans have resisted: I re- 
joice that they have resisted." It is most 
true that Carroll and his associates were im- 
pelled to break the last link of a long cherish- 
ed connexion, by no selfish views of interest, 
no ambitious designs of aggrandizement, no 



19 

<dazzling prospect, even of improving their go- 
vernment, although it w^as susceptible of vast 
improvement. Theirs was neither a dark con- 
spiracy, nor a daring and shameless combina- 
tion for the attainment of guilty ends by an- 
warrantable means. Their conduct presents 
the noble spectacle of an assembly of cool and 
collected patriots, engaged in a perilous and 
almost desperate contest w^ith tyranny; always 
determined that they shall be in the right, 
their oppressors in the wrong ; prepared to 
fight and bleed, if they must, but to fight and 
bleed for nothing less than indubitable justice 
:and the essential rights of freemen. Such 
was the last survivor of these conscript fa- 
thers of our independence, an exact personifi- 
cation of the Roman poet's sublime conception 
of the man, whose purpose no power on earth 
can shake, because it is just, and approved in 
heaven. 

Justum et tenacem propositi virum, 
N-on civium ardor prava jubentium, 

Non vultus instantis tyranni, 

M&nte quatit solida 

it is necessary to observe, that not all those 
who signed the declaration, voted upon the 
question of independence. On the 7th day 
of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, moved-— and on the 2nd of July follow- 
ing, after one month of solemn deliberation, 



30 

and ten years of previous controversy, — it 
was "resolved, that these United Oolonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
pendent states; that they are absolved from 
all allegiance to the British crown, and that 
all political connexion between them is and 
ought to be totally dissolved." Two days 
later the declaration drawn up by Mr. Jeffer- 
son was adopted, and this resolve promulgat- 
ed to the world. Mr. Carroll was not yet in 
Congress; but he was actively employed 
where his services were more useful, in ob- 
taining a similar declaration on the part of 
the Maryland convention, and instructions 
authorising the assent of its delegation at 
Philadelphia. In both instances his zeal was 
crowned with success. The new instructions 
were issue*! in time to anticipate the national 
vote, and in reward of his exertions he was 
added to the representation of the province. 
Thus was he enabled to subscribe his name 
to that document, which will carry it down 
with glory to the latest posterity. The gen- 
erous Hancock, whose bold and conspicuous 
signature still reminds us of his fearless tem- 
per, sat in the chair, with the sword of royal 
vengeance suspended over his neck. Address- 
ing himself to Mr. Carroll, ''will you," said he, 
"sign the declaration?" "Most willingly," 
was the cheerful reply. "There gops some 



21 

millions," said another member, alluding to 
the great fortune which he thus staked irre- 
vocably on the contest. Why do 1 dwell on 
these minute details ? because they evince the 
spirit of the men : because this is the proudest 
epoch in our national history : because it is 
delightful, it is elevating to go back to that 
scene, intermix with the actors in it; catch 
the flame of their feelings, and participate 
their glory. From the moment that he en- 
tered Congress, Mr. Carroll was always at 
his post, fearless, energetic, and efficient. He 
was immediately added to the board of war, 
evidently one of the most important commit- 
tees. During the trying period which ensu- 
ed of doubt and darkness, illumined by occa- 
sional beams of success, and by all that is 
bright in fortitude, and brilliant in heroism, 
the light of his patriotism burnt with a steady 
and unquenchable blaze. He was one of 
those whose confidence in Washington Avas 
never weakened, and who denounced indig- 
nantly, every attempt to rob him of the trust 
and affections of his country. He did not 
vacate his seat until assured of final success, 
when "our great and good ally,'' as the grati- 
tude of Congress then distinguished Louis 
XVI. of France, had sent his fleets and ar- 
mies to fight in our cause. Such was the 
high consideration of his fellow-citizens for 



sk- 
ills merits and abilities, that he was at the 
same time a member of the national council, 
and of the senate of his own state; after the 
adoption of the federal constitution, was ap- 
pointed under its provisions to the first sen- 
ate of the United States; on the expiratitm of 
his term of service there, once more was 
named a senator of Maryland, — and was 
continually re-elected to this office, until the 
year 1801, — a space of twenty-five years of 
uninterrupted devotion to the public good. 
At that period the federal party, to which 
he had always been attached, having lost its 
election in Baltimore, he bade a final adieu 
to politics. Here then we have gained a 
breathing place, where we may pause awhile, 
collect the impressions made on us by all that 
we have seen, and then mark the orb, which 
we have watched in its ascent and at its 
zenith, sinking slowly towards the horizon, 
until it trembles on its verge, still diflfusing 
far around its mildest and most pleasing ra- 
diance. 

If there were any traits peculiarly promi- 
nent in the character of Charles Carroll of 
Carrolton, they were cleaniess of judgment, 
firmness of purpose, independence and energy 
in action. Although connected with one of 
our great political parties, he was never fet- 
tered by its trammels: he contended for prin- 



w* 



23 

ciples and measures, not for men. His covin - 
try — the happiness of his fellow-citizens ; not 
wealth, place or power, was the star which 
attracted his devotion. Whatever deference 
he may have evinced for the sentiments, what- 
ever respect for the persons of his fellow-men^ 
(and no one was more a master of the grace- 
ful courtesies of life,) yet base obsequious- 
ness or even indulgent facility was no part 
of his character. Hence he was not led by the 
false opinions, much less by the caprices, fol- 
lies or vicious examples of others. Although 
systematic, in a high degree, in his plan of do- 
mestic life, arrd careful in the management of 
his large estates, he never ceased to be belov- 
ed by his servants, a theme of admiration for 
his friends, and the central object of the affec- 
tions of a numerous and highly respectable cir- 
cle, enlightening it with the counsels of expe- 
rience, charming with the reminiscense of age^ 
cheering and being cheered by the sweet in- 
terchange of the best sympathies of our na- 
ture. Such was the impression left on the 
minds of all who knew him, where the pecu- 
har genius and disposition of the man are 
most clearly visible, in the bosom of his own 
family. To that scene the youth and beauty, 
the chivalry and wisdom of the land have 
often repaired, as on a pilgrimage, to gaze on 
his declining form, to catch the words that 



fell from his aged lips, and enkindle the fire 
of their patriotism at the dying flame of the 
last of the signers. Su(;h have we known 
him — the Nestor of our revolution, the father 
of a free and grateful country, the single ob- 
ject of universal veneration. 

Qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro 
Exuvias veteres populi sacrataque gestans 
Dona ducum, nee jam validis radicibus hcerens; 

At quamvis primo nulet casura sub euro, 
Tob circum silva firmae se robere tollant, 
Sola tamen colitur. 

Time had already strewed its silvery honors 
on his head, ere he quitted that sphere of pub- 
lic service, which he liad so long decorated 
with his virtues. Yet for thirty years was he 
spared by heaven to cheer the sight of ano- 
ther generation of freemen. With what a 
tranquil descent did he glide down the stream 
of lengthened years ! — with what a pleasing 
lustre did his lamp of intellect continue burn- 
ing to the last! Fortunate man! he lived to 
reap honors and blessings in the evening of 
his days from the children's children of those 
for whom he spent the morning and meridian 
of life in beneficient and glorious toils ! Hap- 
piest of patriots! what splendid visions of na- 
tional prosperity gladdened the fading lustre 
of his eye! He lived to see the brilliant pic- 
tures of his young imagination converted into 



25 

realities more brilliant still — his country free, 
happy and glorious; her resources unfolded 
and ampUfied ; her population quadruped; her 
honor vindicated and sustained; her trophies 
in war rivalled and illustrated by her triumphs 
in the field of science and letters; her brow 
wreathed with laurels; her flag floating in tri- 
umph on every sea. He beheld the tide of ci- 
viHzation rolling over the Alleghanies, and 
across the Mississippi, beating against the foot 
of the Rocky Mountains, and destined to stop 
only when it shall have reflected the gorgeoiu 
splendours of the sun, as his disk rests on the 
bosom of the Pacific. He saw (and it was 
one of his earliest hopes) the angel of free- 
dom striking off" the fetters of religion, and 
leading her from her prison to spread comfort 
and happiness in all her visitations — the only 
true charmer of life, with a cure for every 
wound, and a consolation for every sorrow, 
enhancing each joy of the heart, enlighten- 
ing and strengthening the mind, most power- 
ful in those who are weakest, most fearless 
when every other principle of courage has 
fled. Happy, thrice happy man! he escaped 
that curse — the most dreadful which the phi- 
losophic poet could invoke on the heads of 
cruel tyrants. 

Virtutem videant, intabescantque relicta. — 
No, he did not see the charms of virtue, only 
4 



26 

that remorse might embitter all his hours, and 
and his soul witlier away within him at the 
reflection, that he had lost them all, and lost 
them forever, — their enjoyment on earth and 
their everlasting rewards. As honor and pa- 
triotism were not with him words of pretty 
sound and profitable use, so neither were his 
religion and morality mere subjects of philo- 
sophic speculation or common place eulogy ; 
but living, active principles of conduct, influ- 
encing him in all his relations, civil, social and 
domestic, — giving that last glow of heavenly 
coloring to his character, — that final touch 
of beauty, which leaves the mind of the be- 
holder nothing to desire. The inhabitants of 
that city which so long was cheered with the 
mild evening of his day, can attest how regu- 
lar and punctual he was in the performance 
of every act, which distinguishes a practical 
and pious member of his religion. He could 
pity the sad mistake of the vicious and irreli- 
gious, for his was a philanthropic heart ; but 
neither the scoff's of the one nor the sneers of 
the other could any more shame or fright 
him away from the service of his Creator, 
than a monarch's frowns and threats of ven- 
geance had been able to deter him from em- 
bracing the cause of his country. Nor be it 
said that he blindly acquiesced in the dogmas 
of an hereditary creed. If any man's faith 



37 

was deeply laid in rational conviction, it was 
that of Charles Carroll. The advantages of 
his excellent classical and philosophical edu- 
cation, his extensive and acute observations 
on events and on men, his familiarity with 
languages and books, and the leisure which 
an independent fortune permitted him to en- 
joy, prepared and enabled him to make the 
study of religion in the fullest, fairest and most 
satisfactory manner; and I have it on unques- 
tionable authority, that he did at one period in 
his life, by the advice and with the aid of his 
illustrious relative, the first Archbishop of Bal- 
timore, make it his chief occupation and de- 
light for three successive years, pursuing in 
the most regular manner a course of theologi- 
cal investigation. The luminous evidences 
which had satisfied. the minds of a Bacon and 
a Bossuet, a Leibnitz, Descartes and Newton, 
were not less conclusive for his, — and new 
strength was added to his reasons and mo- 
tives for remainingin communion with the great 
majority of Christians, and professing the faith 
of IPenelon and Columbus. 

After having contemplated the life, shall we 
not pause to witness the death of the venera- 
ble patriarch of liberty ? Conscious that he was 
leaving none to hate, and millions to bless his 
memory, having served both his country and 
his God, he was now quitting the one to re- 



ceive his award from the other. But he was 
not going — Confidently, though humbly do we 
trust that he was not going, unprepared. Joy 
brightened, and hope elevated his soul. The 
glow of holy and enthusiastic devotion which 
lit up his countenance, was noticed with ad- 
miration and reverence by the physicians and 
others who stood by. How admirable, how 
instructive are the last moments of the virtuous 
Christian! Calm and rosigncvl he awaits the 
angel of death: His waning strength is ex- 
hausted ; his heart ceases to beat ; he sinks 
into a pepetual slumber ! Not so, departed spi- 
rit! Then burst upon thy waking view the aw- 
ful spectacle of a world and a life, that never 
end. Thither we can follow thee only with 
our wishes and prayers ; but the lesson of thy 
example shall not be lost upon us. 

He taught us how to live, and oh ! too high, 
The price of knowledge ! taught us how to die. 

Is there not, my friends, a feeling of patri- 
otic, of moral and religious sublimity — arising 
from the contemplation of such a character, 
more elevated and more ennoblino^ far than 
the admiration into which we are liable to be 
surprized, by the false lustre of splendid guilt, 
which too often encircles the names of kings 
and conquerors? And is it not a happiness 
for us to have been not only compatriots, but 



29 

contemporaneous with one, whose Hfe may 
teach us how to reconcile obligations which 
never should be separated, and blend together 
in one beautiful arch — our duties to ourselves, 
our families, our country, and our God? 

Gentlemen, we are now entering on a new 
era in the history of our coimtry. The decla- 
ration of independence ushered into being a 
republic dissimilar in many of its aspects to 
all that had preceded it. The spirit of tlie 
signers was breathed into it; their principles 
infused into all its veins and arteries ; the im- 
press of their exalted minds stamped upon its 
features. Cradled in the storms of the revo- 
lution, like the wind-rocked aboriginal of the 
soil, or rather, like the fabled goddess of wis- 
dom, springing forth at once full grown and 
covered with celestial panoply, it has hitherto 
surmounted every obstacle to its high desti- 
nies, repelled every foe, and advanced steadily 
onward in strength, prosperity and happiness. 
One by one the men who gave it an indepen- 
dent existence and formed and fashioned it 
for greatness, have been withdrawn, leaving 
its march to the guidance of others. The 
last has disappeared from among us, and it 
is now to be seen, whether their mantles have 
fallen upon their successors. They however, 
were but the representatives of the wisdom 
and patriotism which characterised theAmeri- 



30 

cans of that day. However able and faithful 
they may have been, however exalted their 
mission, and however nobly they fulfilled it, — 
be assurevl that nothino- but the sober sense 
of political rights and obligations, the honesty 
and public spirit of the great body of the col- 
onists, could have carried to a triumphant 
conclusion the principles which they pro- 
claimed, the independence which they had 
the couraoe to declare. Nothino- but these 
high qualities could have given a tranquil 
operation to our infant government. On the 
intelligence then, on the wisdom and incor- 
ruptible spirit of the American people, will 
depend the preservation of our liberty, and 
the only pillars of that liberty — the institu- 
tions which they reared to uphold it. It is 
peculiarly incumbent on the rising generation 
and on you, gentlemen of the Academus, as a 
fair and favoured portion of it, to contemplate 
the great example that has been set us by 
the virtues of a Carroll and his associates: 
and although this standard of excellence may 
be high, and although it may be difficult not 
to fall below it; yet we must, we must exalt 
our minds and our hearts above the tainted 
atmosphere of passion, prejudice and interest, 
local or personal, and strive to equal and 
even surpass it, if we do not wish to see the 
brightest star, which has yet appeared on the 



31 

horizon of the poUtical world, shooting wild- 
ly from its orbit and setting in darkness on a 
scene of bloodshed, horror and despair. It 
requires but little sagacity to foresee this re- 
sult as inevitable, unless the tone of political 
morality be preserved healthy and vigorous, 
unless the same inviolable regard for justice 
and right, and public order still prevail, — the 
same disinterested love of country and of our 
whole country, the same spirit of mutual for- 
bearance and concession, which distinguished 
our patriotic ancestors. Oh, let it not be said 
in this sense, that the death of Carroll was as 
opportune, as his life had been honoured and 
happy! For the sake of America, for the 
sake of mankind, let not his lot be assimilat- 
ed to that of the Roman patriot, whose name 
and virtues — familiar at least to you, have 
been commemorated by the most eloquent of 
his countrymen. Sed ii tamen reipublica ca- 
sus secuti sunt, ut mihi non erepta L. Crasso 
vita, sed donata mors esse videatur. Non 
vidit flagrantem hello Italiam, non ardentem 
invidia Senatum, non sceleris nefarii princi- 
pes civitatis reos, non denique in omni gen- 
ere deformatam cam civitatem, in qua ipse 
florentissima multum omnibus gloria prcesti- 
tisset. No, the departed heroes and sages, — 
the Washingtons and Carrolls of the revolu- 
tion, disturbed in their silent tombs would 



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32 

forbid their countrymen, their 
pollute with civil gore the soi 
been hallowed by tlie noblest 'struggle for 
liberty recorded in the history of the' world 
No, we trust better things: we cannot an- 
ticipate such an issue to all their hopes and 
labours. Their pathway through the heaven 
of true glory is before you; should your coun- 
try call for your services, do not, my friends 
permit yourselves to be seduced or to wander 
from it. The life of one of them, in every re- 
spect worthy of imitation, has been held up to 
your view. Contemplate the traits of pa- 
triotism, morality and practical virtue beam- 

'"n r,«r7u.^'^*"'- K«'™''™ber how Car- 
roll fulfilled his duties to his family, his coun- 
try and his God, and "go thou and do like- 
wise." 



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